Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday

Late edit: Just for the record here, peoples, when I say that this was a little bear, I mean just that. You are talking about something that weighed 150 lbs, and when he was on all fours, he was no taller than my hips, I'd guess. I'm short, btw. 5 foot 3. That white garbage bag? It's a kitchen trash bag. Use that for size comparison. It's not like having a monster sized grizzly in your back yard. Nothing to be a-skeerd of.

It's been a quiet day here, although it started a little too early for my liking. I awoke to the sound of the neighbor's dog. I also heard the sound of our garbage can be stealthily opened. Half awake, I muttered to Tim, "I think we might have a bear," but he was already standing at the window saying, "We have a bear." Not being a complete failure at blogging, I jumped up and headed downstairs, to get pictures of the bear. You see, unlike BB or Bill or Linda, I am not a natural born photographer. This means that I do not sleep with my camera. I was hanging out the sliding glass doors taking pictures of this bear who was happily munching watermelon and cantelope remains. He was also crunching on coffee grounds. Fruit and caffeine...hm. Me and that bear? Not so different, I guess. Tim headed out the back door to watch the little fellow, and he gave a short, sharp growl. "Oooh," I thought. "This little whippersnapper is kind of bold..." Then he ambled towards my bird feeders (which are empty this time of year, so as not to attract bears). "Oh, no," I yelled, clapping my hands. "You get away from those right now," and eventually he did, padding over to see the blueberries. Tim went out the door, taking pictures. The bear stood at the end of the deck looking at us curiously. "Go on, now," Tim said, and so the little bear went on.

Because I am a blogger, I immediately came in to put together a post. I've been promising you all bear pictures for ever so long, and finally I had them! And lo, they all turned out like this:

All of 'em. I tweaked around for some time, and was able to get the pictues cleaned up a little, so that you could see them at least a little. But I had a writing check sitting on the table to be deposited on Monday, and I said to Tim, "Know what? I've had it. Really and truly, I'm tired of messing around with this camera. Do you care if I buy a new one with my check?" And he said no, and so I did, this afternoon, after church, and after I mowed the lawn. It's so tiny, a little Kodak. The screen is much bolder, so old people can see their pictures better as they're taking them. I'm quite excited over this, imagining all the wonderful pictures I will take, although I figure that this new camera just about guarantees that we will not have another bear in the yard this season.

But, back to our morning: We tried to go back to sleep, but heck. We were wide awake and finally just got up and started getting ready for church. It's been a long time since I've been to church. At least a month. I lead the sharing of our joys and concerns and since I was up there, I let myself go first. "Gees. I've been away for so long. I've missed you all terribly, and it's a joy to be back." And then Pat stood up. "I'm with Debby. I've been away for a long time..." "Oh no he wasn't," I was quick to say. "He wasn't with me at all." To Pat, I said, "Don't go starting talk like that," and he laughed and made the motions of putting his foot in his mouth, and the church laughed together like people who love each other. Since I've been there last, we have yet another person with cancer. Gees, the church has been hard hit. I keep feeling like I'm supposed to use my own experiences to be a help, but quite honestly have not figured out what I am supposed to be doing. Our new pastor is a fire ball. We're heading into a new chapter I think, and I'm excited about it. The church was pretty full today, and you could feel the enthusiasm.

I left church, and I came home and mowed the lawn, and then bought our new camera, and then came home and weeded a couple flower beds. I'd intended to do some digging up, but could not find the spade. So here I sit.

Heck. Know what? I'm going out to take some pictures with my new camera. Like my church, this blog may be heading into a new chapter too.

16 comments:

Bears in the backyard?!!! You have BEARS in your backyard?! Well done on the photographic effort I say. (Plus I had a good laugh at the original!) And well done on the 'cleaning them up'. Have fun with your new camera!

We saw a bear, while on the Thank-A-Vet dam run yesterday. Bob saw the entire bear run across the road, whereas I saw only its butt as it scrambled into the woods. Thanks for the plug. BTW your pictures cleaned up well.

I love the pic of the cute fuzzy. That is one thing I miss about back home. But as long as I get to log in and see pics I'm happy! Can't wait to see whats coming next really helps the homesickness to see everything is going ok. Not trying to sound disrespectful Mom but the first comment on here has me puzzled. Being Christian myself I can't quite understand how not being Christian makes you a "real person"?

Oh yay!!! I'm glad you'll take more pictures! I love these, lol, what a cute lil guy. Although not cool to have a bear, it IS cool, to me :) Glad you're back to church too, what a great feeling of community and faith you have there. You are so blessed!

Ooohhh ... on many levels. Ooohhh at the bear (you can tell Aussies aren't used to bears sharing their turf). Oooohhh at the new camera - EXCITEMENT! Can't wait to see some more pics... and Ooohhh at Mrs Woog's comment and your response Deb - I too would have needed the facilities at hand. Yikes!:-)BB

Tim tells me the bear was closer to 200 pounds. Maybe even 250. Still, friends, that's a small animal, and black bears are rarely aggressive. I'd be much more terrified of the reptiles in Australia (Or Arizona) than of our placid bears. Still, they'll get big enough that you don't want to let down your guard with them, or get too familiar.

About Me

I'm the wife of a good man, the mother of good kids, the grandmother of sweet William. I am a student. A small time writer for the local paper. I am funny. I am serious. I am practical. Hardworking. I make great bread. I'm loyal.